Hawi Rapudo's Page

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The aim of this group is to discuss and promote interfaith environmental cooperation throughout the world. It will also highlight research done on this subject and report on events, projects, and workshops which are taking place nowadays.See More

Social Media 4 Peace is an active learning group designed to support individual organisation web-strategies to harness the peace development potential of the internet. We plan to co-publish our research findings to support our wider Peace community.

The Global Campaign for Peace Education has two goals:1) to build public awareness and political support for the introduction of peace education into all spheres of education, and; 2) to promote the education of all teachers to teach for peaceSee More

More than 40 research studies testing this hypothesis have been done in the last decade and published in leading peer-reviewed journals. A 27-member independent scientific review board was set up to monitor our Washington experiment and evaluate its outcome. Preliminary data indicate total violent crime in Washington dropped significantly during the eight-week experiment, as predicted-New York Times August 1993

It is understood that you have decided to attend the conference on Adult Peace Education Conference that is to be held in Sri Lanka on 10th January 2009.

I have also decided to participate in the Conference.

My views to bring about peace in Sri Lanka is submitted for your kind perusal, consideration and suggestions.

I hope to meet you at the Conference.

PLEASE BE GOOD ENOUGH TO COMMENT

Learning about your interest and experience from your profile information, I would like to request your help in a work I am engaged for the past few years. So far I could not find a person who could help me in my work but from reading your profile I believe that you might help with my work.

I am not that qualified to submit the proposal in the proper format. Being an antiwar activist and a mindset in that direction I believe you would be able to assist me by studying the proposal and modifying it suitably since you are well aware of the current situation in Sri Lanka.

I am a person with a passion for peace and good governance that would bring in prosperity and a pleasant living to ALL the people in Sri Lanka.

I have prepared a set of suggestions to replace certain clauses in the constitution of Sri Lanka so as to bring-in sustainable peace to the country.

You would be well aware of the fact that people who advocate for peace are now called traitors and that many peace activists are silent now for many reasons. But I am not advocating peace but calling for good governance not only in SriLanka but also throughout the world.

The international community is well aware of everything that is going on in Sri Lana and it seems the IC is just watching or indirectly supporting the government of Sri Lanka and a few countries are directly supporting the government. I do not wish to comment on their views and actions.

But it is really strange to note that even China is supporting the Government in the "war" against "terrorism". May be China (or the present day China) is not aware of the causes that led to the present situation. If I am not wrong, Article 4 of the Chinese constitution says as follows:

"Article 4. All nationalities in the People's Republic of China are equal. The state protects the lawful rights and interests of the minority nationalities and upholds and develops the relationship of equality, unity and mutual assistance among all of China's nationalities. Discrimination against and oppression of any nationality are prohibited; any acts that undermine the unity of the nationalities or instigate their secession are prohibited. The state helps the areas inhabited by minority nationalities speed up their economic and cultural development in accordance with the peculiarities and needs of the different minority nationalities. Regional autonomy is practiced in areas where people of minority nationalities live in compact communities; in these areas organs of self- government are established for the exercise of the right of autonomy. All the national autonomous areas are inalienable parts of the People's Republic of China. The people of all nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages, and to preserve or reform their own ways and customs."

It is really sad to note that China has not made the Sri Lankan government aware of this clause in their constitution which could be used by the Sri Lankan government as one of the ways for a political solution.

But in my humble opinion that Article, may to some extent, pacify the Tamils and may help to reduce the ethnic problem BUT it cannot solve the problems faced by the people of Sri Lanka as a whole.

The main cause for all the ills of any country and every country is the present democratic system of governance which allows "corruption" of all forms to thrive unchecked.

In my opinion "Corruption" includes any kind of waste, neglect and every form of malpractice, dishonesty, abuse, misuse, unreasonable exercise of power, failure or refusal to exercise power, anything and everything left undone which results in the right of the people being denied or impaired.

Without a "just society" in existence much talked about "terrorism" cannot be eradicated. For the creation of a "just society" there should be "good governance" in the country. For the creation of "good governance" in the country "corruption" in ALL its forms must be eradicated. And to eradicate "corruption" the present democratic system of governance, where full power to make final decisions ultimately rests in the hands of one person, must be changed.

So the only way to salvage a country is to change the present system of governance to one that is truly democratic where the final decision-making power will NOT be in the hands of ONE person BUT shared by as many people as possible and thus restricting individual hasty decisions that lead to trouble everywhere.

To make a country truly democratic, the powers of the Parliament (the decision making supreme body of a country) should be split and separated and each of the separated powers must be handled by different groups of persons selected and elected by the people for the purpose of administering EACH SET OF POWERS or duties as the case may be.

Particular care should be taken to see that all powers are NOT CONCENTRATED in one place and that they do not overlap and there must not be a secret budget to be handled by a single person.

All transactions should be transparent including Diplomacy which has to be diplomatically transparent.

One set of powers dealing with the development of the country should be given to the set of representatives at the village level. The people of each and every village must be empowered to determine their way of life (lifestyle). The life-style of a village, its lands and resources shall not be disturbed by external forces. All plans of development of a village that remotely/indirectly affects the village must have the concurrence of the people of that village concerned.

It has to be ensured that people are treated equitably regardless of their gender, race, colour, ethnic or national origins, age, disability, socio-economic background, religious or political beliefs and affiliations, marital status, family responsibilities, sexual orientation or other inappropriate distinction;

Separate the powers of parliament and empower different groups of people's representatives with different powers so that no single group has the full power. All the groups together will make the whole. The country is not divided but the powers of parliament are divided/separated.

Different groups have to be elected for such purposes as administration, fiscal management, planning, implementing, policy and law making, auditing and for any other function that may be deemed necessary.

The decision-making powers with regard to each and every set of powers must be spread through-out the country.

With such system discrimination, injustice, bribery and corruption might become history.

Even now the administration is from village level unto National Level in many countries with many stages in between - one above the other - with powers overlapping and the final decision-making power is at one place - the top. That is the problem and so that system must be changed.

We can lead the world with such a REAL DEMOCRACY with a parliament encompassing representatives from all the villages and starting the administration of the country at the village level and going unto national level.

Mahatma Gandhi wanted the villages of India to be empowered but it has not been implemented by the government of India yet due to human nature of not willing to lose the little power each person (office) is already in possession.

A change in the people's attitude and understanding of the problem is important. They must be made aware of the benefits the "rule of law" will bring to them in the long run. Now they are after short-term profits. They are not considering the future generations. A corrupt-free society will bring-in good-governance that will benefit everyone other than the crooked politicians.

In my opinion the people are ready to change the present system but they are not being given the opportunity by power hungry politicians. I think the countries of the World must move towards this goal and like-minded persons from all walks of life must join the movement and strengthen it. Only then can the people be able to give a send-off to ALL the corrupt politicians of ALL political parties and usher-in a new era of a corrupt-free society in any country. Rajaji (the last Governor-General of India) tried it in India but was not successful.

Rather than continuing to express and analyze the problem of the day we must move towards a solution.

They (the people) should move away from race/religion/language/class-centered/oriented politics and move towards a needs-focused administration that which is race-blind, religion-blind, language-blind and class-blind for sustainable peace, prosperity and a pleasant living for ALL the people in a country.

It is also humbly requested that you be good enough to give me the email addresses of the many commentators found in your page so as to enable me to contact them for the same purpose or in the alternative, it is humbly requested that you be good enough to forward this request to them for their views because that even after the "war on terrorism" is over, a political solution has to be found to sustain the "hard won war". That political solution must prevent the re-occurrence of such a war. You might have come across some experiences of the "war" but I am experiencing the "war" from the start (1956) to this date.

It is hoped that you would have the time to comment on the above suggestions which have been put forward in the interest of everyone.

Hello Hawi, it seems we have much to talk about! I would love to explore the online mediation technology with the Kenyan Truth Commission work. I have a friend who has written a report for the BBCWST on the post election violence and hate messages on the radio, very interesting. Great Lakes region has always fascinated me too.

Also excited to see you are a trauma counsellor. I did a two week course with the Foreign Office on assessing PTSD in collegues - I learned a lot, but mostly about how we are so able to heal ourselves.

My email is caroline@imediate.org.uk please drop me a line so we can talk further.

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